


Atin'la

by B_Radley



Series: The Laughing Beskad [4]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Death Watch (Star Wars), Drabble Collection, Gen, Mando'a, Nite Owls
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-15
Updated: 2017-01-15
Packaged: 2018-09-17 18:57:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 615
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9338576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Radley/pseuds/B_Radley
Summary: A warrior tests a gambler. She discovers a chance for mutual salvation after death, horror, and cataclysm





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [The Strangers Shall Swallow It Up](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8909041) by [B_Radley](https://archiveofourown.org/users/B_Radley/pseuds/B_Radley). 



> Drabble Collection and 5+1. A few extra words here and there.

**Strength**

J'ohlana Wren watches as the gambler prepares for their spar. _Well, he wants to be tested. Let's give him a true test._ She watches him as he removes his boots and jacket. His eyebrows raise one millimeter as he realizes that she has donned her _beskar'gam._ One corner of his mouth quirks up, but he says nothing.

The smile moves to his green eyes as he walks over to face her. For someone who has said that his future depends on this; he is relaxed. They clasp hands in warrior fashion. They drop hands. She swings. The grin never fades.

**Recovery**

'Lana twirls the training _besk'ad,_ the curved blade of Mando heritage. She has abandoned armor. He has turned her back to her. She knows that his face is bruised from the blows of her gauntlets. She smiles ruefully. Her ribs in the places not protected are heavily bruised. She strips to her tank, as she sees him discard his shirt. In spite of the things she had seen as a Nite Owl, she gasps as she sees the scars. Some barely healed; that bacta could only repair, not disguise. He smiles the gambler's smile, even as he favors his hip.

**Steel**

The man with no name picks up his training blade. 'Lana watches as his eyebrow rises at the unfamiliarity of the _besk'ad._ He looks at her, sees her stance and grip. He mimics. 

The man with no name is on his knees after failing to block her swing. The unfamiliar weight, as well as the one-handed swing and parry take their toll. She sees a gleam in his eye. Her eyes widen as he swings the blade around. He holds it; his blade reversed in a strange grip. She strikes as pain flows through her mind. A memory stirs.

**Memory**

'Lana takes the hand and stands. Her lip bleeds freely. Her mind is not in the dojo. Her mind is on a snowy world. The first view is of a burning village; a murdered girl in the fore. Of her horror at what her people have done. The second view is a beautiful girl; a huntress; the betrothed of a supposed ally. A warrior, once she is out of her winter garment; shows her true strength and prowess before she is overwhelmed by ropes. 'Lana's heart is torn by the slaughter she witnesses. The slaughter she will of a huntress.

**Defiance**

'Lana pulls the unconscious warrior up. She has pinned him twice. _Guess my brothers' virtue is safe._ Her nose now bleeds; as does his from traded head-butts - the classic Keldabe Kiss. She cannot send the huntress from her mind. Her heart aches as she sees the beautiful warrior kneeling before Vizla. She looks up at him defiantly as she prepares for death. A woman even younger than 'Lana. 'Lana's eyes tear as she steels herself to see the girl's head in the snow. Instead, she sees four of her fellows' heads on the ground. By a dual reverse grip.

**Salvation**

J'oh watches the warrior doze in the shared, steaming tub. Both warriors relax in the training tub, their muscles and wounds soothed. She hears the warrior talking in his doze. She hears several names. A dreamed litany of Remembrance

One name stands out. _Ahsoka._ The name she had heard whispered from Bonteri. The name of the warrior who had shown J'ohlana Wren that there was more to life than her heritage of Death Watch. She adds the name to her litany. She looks at the warrior across from her. She smiles.

He would be as his dead had been. 

Her salvation.

She silently makes her own vow. She would be his.

**Author's Note:**

> Atin'la - Tough


End file.
